The subject matter disclosed herein relates to communication systems, and more particularly, to systems and methods of conducting a communication using division free duplexing.
A communication network may include multiple communication devices capable of communicating through various communication routes. Depending on the configuration of the network, communication routes may be made from one communication device to another via central network nodes which connect the devices, or communication routes may include links between any devices of the network. For example, a cable communication network may include one or more subnetworks of fiber rings having a coaxial cable shared between multiple users connected in the fiber ring. Each fiber ring may support a neighborhood of houses, for example, and devices in each of the connected houses may communicate via the shared coaxial cable with a central network node (e.g., an internet access point, cable television provider, etc).
Generally, the coaxial cable connecting each user to another user or to a network node may involve the bidirectional transmission of signals. To avoid direct interference between oppositely propagating signals, duplexing techniques may typically be employed. Duplexing techniques may include time-division, frequency-division, and/or code-division duplexing to allow two communicating devices to both transmit and receive information (e.g., data, voice signals, etc.). For example, time-division duplexing may use time-division multiplexing to separate incoming (received) and outgoing (transmitted) signals in time. The time-division of the signals may be sufficiently fast such that signals may be perceived as being transmitted and received simultaneously. Frequency-division duplexing may involve signal transmitters and receivers which operate on different frequencies. The frequencies of the transmitted and received signals may be sufficiently separated such that their modulated frequency spectra do not overlap, and the receiver of each communication device may be tuned to simultaneously receive an intended frequency and reject its own transmitted signal. Code-division duplexing may involve encoding transmitted signals with codes such that certain signals may be separated from other signals when received at a receiving end of the communication.
Although division duplex systems may enable the near-simultaneous transmitting and receiving of signals, such systems may be insufficient for some communication networks, which have become increasingly complex. For example, networks using time-division duplex systems may lose time in receiving the signals due to the time-multiplexing of signals, and networks using frequency-division duplex systems may have a limited amount of frequency spectra available for transmission links which support an increasingly large number of communication devices. Moreover, data security is a common concern for cable communication networks, and typical duplex systems may be insufficient for addressing such concerns.